When Brand Narratives Are Written in Metaphoric Terms, Can They Weaken Self-Brand Connections?

Sydni Fomas Do, Martin Reimann, Alberto López, Raquel Castaño

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Previous research has established that brand narratives can strengthen the connection between consumers and brands. The present investigation raises the question of whether this finding holds when narratives are written in metaphoric terms. Three studies, including a pilot study of Amazon.com brand reviews (N 5 1; 000) and two experiments (N 5 4; 017), illustrate that metaphoric (vs. nonmetaphoric) narratives can actually weaken the self-brand connection. The studies illuminate that, while metaphoric narratives are prevalent in consumer reviews, such reviews seem less likely to provide the narrative structure necessary to establish a strong connection with the brand. This work contributes to the novel insight that while consumers often use metaphors as a way to talk about brands, relying on metaphors may actually weaken the review writer’s connection with the brand. This effect remains robust even when considering high levels of brand familiarity and linguistic abilities of the brand review writer.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)21-31
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of the Association for Consumer Research
Volume9
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2024

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Applied Psychology
  • Economics and Econometrics
  • Marketing

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